Qualcomm gain new enemies in Samsung and Intel

After being sued by Apple and the US FTC in sperate lawsuits this year, Qualcomm likely thought the storm was over. However, Samsung and Intel have now filed briefs backing the FTC’s lawsuit against the technology giants, claiming they to have been “harmed” by the misconduct of anti-competitive practices.

Samsung uses competitor chips in many of its smartphones – i.e. the Snapdragon 835 processor in the Galaxy S8 – as well as developing their own in competition with Qualcomm. In its brief, Samsung described Qualcomm’s actions as “exclusionary” and claimed that “despite having requested a license from Qualcomm, Samsung cannot sell licensed Exynos chipsets to non-Samsung entities because Qualcomm has refused to license Samsung to make and sell licensed chipsets,”

The Wall Street Journalclaims that Intel outlines in its filing that Qualcomm’s practices have “inflicted and continues to inflict precisely the harms that the antitrust laws seek to protect against,”

“Qualcomm has maintained an interlocking web of abusive patent and commercial practices that subverts competition on the merits. These practices have illegally coerced mobile phone manufacturers into purchasing the chipsets they need from Qualcomm and Qualcomm alone,” Intel wrote on its website.

While Qualcomm has not commented on Samsung and Intel’s briefings, it did warn investors in its most recent earnings report that growing legal challenges may affect its financial outlook. Qualcomm’s motion to dismiss the FTC suit is slated for June and will be heard in a federal court in the Northern District of California.